DVD-Audio offers a “play or tray” function. If you don’t have a monitor and you load a DVD-Audio disc into the tray and press close, it will perform just like a compact disc. You can navigate between selections, pause playback, and stop playback from the front-panel controls of the player—just as you do today when you insert a compact disc into a traditional in-dash or tabletop CD player.
If your DVD-Audio system is equipped with a monitor display, you can then take better advantage of the “play” features of this format. Once a DVD-Audio disc is loaded, and the user presses play, a disc menu appears on the screen, permitting the user to navigate the various offerings available on a DVD-Audio disc. This can be done either by using front-panel controls or with a remote control, depending on the system.
The unique capabilities of the play-or-tray feature offer the automobile manufacturer an opportunity to merchandise a variety of basic (for example, DVD-Audio only, no monitor, in two-channel or multichannel applications) and step-up (DVD-Audio and connected monitor, DVD Audio/Video and connected monitor, DVD-Audio and Dolby® Pro Logic® II) systems to its customers. It also allows a variety of flavors for traditional consumer entertainment products (DVD-Audio/Video, for example).
